Liberating Alaska
| "Liberating Alaska" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Harry Turtledove | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Alternate history |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine |
| Publication type | |
| Publication date | June 19, 2018 |
"Liberating Alaska" is an alternate history short story by Harry Turtledove, published in the July/August 2018 issue of the Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.
Plot summary
The point of divergence occurs when the United States never purchases Alaska from Russia.[1] While the specifics of the point of divergence are not described, it can be assumed that the Alaska Purchase of 1867 was either never accepted or the US Government never bothered to buy the territory. As a result, Alaska remains under Russian control until the Russian Civil War. As a consequence of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War and the U.S. fighting the Red Army in Siberia, Vladimir Lenin is forced to cede Alaska to the U.S.
The story is set in June 1929. Joseph Stalin initiates a take-over of the city of Siknazuak (real-life Nome, Alaska with a variant of its Iñupiat name). The story depicts the liberation of Siknazuak by the United States Marine Corps.